Various vehicle covers have existed over the years designed for a variety of purposes including the protection of vehicle interiors from the elements of nature. Certain automobile covers such as that to Altschul in U.S. Pat. No. 2,733,747, have been constructed from plastic material and have been designed so as to fairly conform with the vehicle and when placed over its top completely cover the vehicle. This type of cover allows for complete enclosure of the vehicle and thus works well in protecting it from the elements particularly where the vehicle remains idle.
Other types of covers were further developed which acted to protect selected portions of a vehicle. For example, the vehicle protector discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,999 to Miller, is directed to a vehicle protector which utilizes a plurality of plastic sheets, each having one surface thereof covered with a soft resilient material. This cover allows for the protection of the outermost surface of the front fenders, the front door panels, and the remaining side panels of the motor vehicle. Both elastic members as well as snap fasteners attach the cover to the vehicle. Thus, the structure and method of fabrication of this particular protector utilizes a plurality of flexible sheet members which cover selected portions of a body of a motor vehicle and are removably effected thereto by the snap fasteners and/or elastic members. Therefore, as can clearly be seen, prior vehicle covers for protecting a vehicle from the natural elements conformed to the exterior of the vehicle and protected the exterior from the natural elements.
Various boat covers have also been designed for protecting sea-going vessels from not only the natural elements of wind and rain, but also from the elements of the ocean when at sea. Attempts were made to utilize hard rigid glass panels on the bridge of a boat to allow the driver of a boat high visibility while still protecting the interior of the boat from the various elements of rain and seawater. However, in utilizing such an inflexible material such as glass, these types of covers were prone to cracking and breaking. If the boat were to move, the rigid panels of glass could not absorb the shock between the boat and the water. Further, though attempts were made to attach the glass to the exterior of the boat, this proved a difficult task. Attachments had to be made to secure the glass to the boat, while also attempting not to crack the glass.
Most boats of today have abandoned glass covers for protecting, for example, the bridge and aft of the boat. The generally used cover of today is comprised of a single clear vinyl sheet which attached to the exterior of the boat and utilized for protecting the interior of the boat from the natural elements of rain, and further, for protecting the interior of the boat while the boat is moving.
However, the use of clear vinyl boat covers has several drawbacks. One primary drawback in the utilization of clear vinyl covers is that clear vinyl wrinkles. Though initially smooth, the vinyl, being a flexible material, tends to wrinkle and thus develop lumps. These lumps make it difficult to clean the vinyl, and subsequently, over time, the visibility through the clear vinyl decreases. With decreased visibility, it is very difficult to utilize the vinyl covers while the boat is moving. The person driving the boat cannot see through these vinyl covers and thus must remove the cover and thereby remove his protection. The lumps and wrinkles in the vinyl also make it difficult to clean and subsequently, upon attempting to clean the vinyl, the vinyl scratches and deteriorates over time and actually loses visibility upon each attempt to clean.
The size of a vinyl cover also varies with temperature. When exposed to heat, vinyl expands and as it cools the vinyl contracts. This further makes vinyl more difficult to use when initially measuring a specific boat to be covered because it is very difficult to get the correct size of vinyl which is necessary to provide a cover for a particular portion of the boat. Also, for storage purposes, the vinyl must be folded each time the cover is taken off. Upon folding of the vinyl, it develops more wrinkles and creases and subsequently the visibility through the vinyl is further decreased.
Finally, one other drawback of vinyl boat covers exists in that normally, one continuous cover is utilized, for example, to cover the bridge of the boat. Therefore, if visibility is decreased for the driver, viewing from the interior of the boat out to the exterior of the boat, he must remove the entire cover in order to see. Therefore, the entire bridge of the boat is thus exposed to the natural elements due to the driver's inability to see out of the front of the boat.